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Well, the festival has finally wound to an end. Today I saw my final two performances, which included the Festival Finale – The Festival Gala Concert.

But first. This morning I followed up brunch with Ten Bush a play about witchcraft and deceit in a small African village, the village of Ten Bush. It was an excellent performance, with its limited set design and raw stage feel of the Box Theatre. It did have its slightly explicit moments, and left one feeling slightly odd, but was really made by the voices. I am going to be hearing “Ten Buuush” (not that this does it any justice) for ages to come.

This was followed, finally, by Richard Cock’s Gala Concert, which included The Orchestra, some Opera, some Sax, and even Audience participation. It was also a tribute to the Festival CEO who has retired after being at the helm of the festival for many years.

The performance was a superb mix of classical and modern music, all chosen because of some significance to the year 2008. Unlike the performance yesterday, Richard Cock continuously addressed the audience and the whole occasion was less formal. (Indeed he was an a bright yellow shirt!) The grand finale was The 1812 Overture which made use of the audience and paper bags to create the cannons. An effect which worked quite well. For an encore, they performed (almost to my horror) the song NAFG – or National Arts Festival, Grahamstown. Richard Cock claimed that this had been commissioned for the festival, but it turned out to be the YMCA.

Quite appropriately, the sun was just setting over the horizon as we left the monument. A builtiful red and orange orb to place an air of finality on what was a wonderful celebration of culture.

After last night, I was uncertain if I was going to enjoy Raiders. This was my second comedy and comments on the National Arts Festival site said that it was a Festival Institution and a must see for first time festinos. Dan saw it earlier in the week and his positive comments were what persuaded me to get tickets.

Unfortunately a combination of last night and my uncomfort at the possibility of becoming cast (a feature of Raiders) made me unsure before it even started. It was, however, hilarious and incredibly clever.

The story is of a South African aviator who reached the top of Everest two days before Sir Edmund Hillary. Utter nonsense, but great fun. They turned ordinary everyday objects into props to great effect. I concur, a must see of any Festival programme!

Today my festival programme had two very different events in it, both of which were also different from anything I have done so far.

This afternoon I attended a presentation entitled “Let’s Talk Whisky!” which explained the differences between Whiskies from different parts of the world and included a tasting of six different ones. It was a very interesting presentation and it was good to find differences in it. One in particular tasted of cigarette ash! It was very interesting and I am considering going to their other tasting where they explain the components of Johnnie Walker Red and taste each of those components. It was, however, a pity about the drunk.

Oh, and Whisky has an ‘e’ if it’s not made in Scotland… Apparently.

Then this evening was the first of two comedies I am seeing. Entitled Australia vs. South Africa, it was set in Sydney about the time of a big rugby international. I personally didn’t enjoy it that much as it didn’t suit my sense of humour. It was about two guys from Durban who were in Sydney for the big game, and it told their story of disaster whilst there. It was full of excessive stereotyping, but most of the audience seemed to really love it.

Last night were performances seven and eight. Firstly we went to hear the Wits Choir again, having enjoyed them so much the first time. This time they were singing to Five Men, Three Removed. It was another superb performance. It was very interesting to hear the differences between singing and singing with music, and how different the choir was with an electronic band. Once again, a superb performance. I managed to get a few photos with my phone. I’ll add these later.

Thereafter, Shane and I attended 4.48 Psychosis at PJ’s. In stark contrast to the music, this was a very serious – disturbing play. It was Sarah Kane’s last play and was directed by Ingrid Wilde (also of Saints ilk). It is about mental illness and the thoughts of a suicidal mind. I felt that it was an excellent performance, but was not enjoyable. However, this was expected from a play of this nature, and is still worth seeing. The set and cast mimicked the tone of the play, with a very simplistic set and just three members of the cast.

Initially, I was not going to go and see Romeo and Juliet as it is a Dance production and I am not particularly enthralled by dance. However, the entry in the Festival programme was very enticing and I decided to get a ticket. However, I was unable to do so as it was already sold out. George, however, didn’t want to go and so I took her place.

There was a long queue at the door to get tickets, and very few of them got in. The performance was excellent. A very modern dance interpretation of Romeo and Juliet, but the story was followable just from the performance. The music could, however, have been of a better quality, one of the tracks sounded like a scratched CD.